1968 Caravel, ELEVEN

She is done and will be handed back to her owner tomorrow. This has been a fabulous project to work on. A true ELEVEN in my book.

I find it good to reflect back on "before". I can still smell the mold, mouse droppings, and rotting plywood.

It has new trailer smell now.

One of the roof lockers was torn from the wall and just laying on the side gaucho.

It now hangs from the ceiling and even works like new again.

The refer had been removed. It was a good thing it was, since the floor under it probably wouldn't support the weight. Nothing in the galley was working. 

Now everything functions perfectly.

In front of the shower pan was an area of exceptionally soft floor. I literally stepped through, right to my knee one day. Most of the plywood under the shower pan was rotten also. The plumbing could not function if it tried. The fresh water system was full of holes, the grey water system was completely compromised. 

Not any longer. Jump in, take a shower...

Step over the big hole and gingerly step in to use the head? I  doubt that was going to happen. 

I wonder who will be the first to try out the virgin toilet.

This is a personalized FTW item. You need a switch for the water heater and pump, so why not make it easy to identify what you are turning on?

This Caravel did not have it's magazine rack. One was found in another trailer whose owner had added things he probably bought at a rally swap meet. They were period incorrect for a 1953 but the exact fit for 1968.

The reading light was broken. The socket popped apart and the wires worn through to bare copper. It now works like brand new. Mike worked some serious magic since these are very hard to find. He even got the brushed metal look back. 

A previous owner had made the side gaucho into a full time couch. We returned it to a gaucho situation again. It pulls out like it should again and makes a double bed.

Caravels have one drawer. That drawer is just a shallow plastic tray behind a fold down door. This Caravel has a large pull out drawer with dividers for utensils.

I hope you like what you see. I am very proud of this project.

1968 Caravel, Ten of ...

I know, I promised the next post would be the final post. It could be, because the Caravel is now 100% finished. I however could not end a project like this on the tenth post when it is a project taken to ELEVEN. So bare with me on my second to last post.

A major change to the appearance of the Caravel was loosing the 1970's aluminum Ford rims. They just did not look right to me.

As you can see they are very wide. Combined with the small tire size, they just looked odd.

The mags were replaced by powder coated steel rims. We kicked it up a notch by doing a double silver pinstripe on the flat of the rim. A nice reproduction set of baby moons from Vintage Trailer Supply tops it all off very nicely. Did I mention how much I love Carlisle tires? I do.

Perhaps as soon as tomorrow I will have a final post of the 1968 Caravel project. I am excited to show you some other things we have been doing at FTW.